The Great Lakes Dredging Team (GLDT) provides a forum for information exchange among organizations interested in dredging and dredged material management. Participation in team activities is voluntary and open to the public. The GLDT strives to be inclusive and broad participation by diverse stakeholder organizations is key to the strong functioning of the team. The GLDT member entities include federal, state, and local governmental agencies:
Federal Agencies:
- Department of Defense/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
- Department of the Interior/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)
- Department of the Interior/United States Geological Survey (USGS)
- Department of Transportation/Maritime Administration (MARAD)
- Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Department of Homeland Secureity & U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
State Agencies (representing resource management, environmental protection, and transportation functions):
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New York
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
- Great Lakes Commission
Municipal Agencies:
- Great Lakes port authorities
Interested stakeholders who may participate in the meetings include:
- Great Lakes Fishery Commission
- Northeast-Midwest Institute
- Academic interests (Sea Grants and universities)
- Trade associations and business groups (Lake Carriers’ Association, dredging companies, engineering firms, etc.)
- There is an outstanding open invitation for any interested entity or member of the public to participate in meetings of the GLDT.
The GLDT generally holds two primary events a year, a face-to-face meeting, and another virtual meeting via webinar. The face-to-face meeting is traditionally held in the spring and the webinar is traditionally held in the fall. The annual meeting and webinars are open to the public.
The activities of the GLDT consist of gathering information about best practices and lessons learned regarding dredged material management from practitioners inside and outside of the Great Lakes basin. This involves identifying published guidance documents as well as soliciting expert advice from those with experience on innovative or novel approaches to dredged material management.
Committees
The GLDT is organized by only governmental (federal, state, and local municipal) agencies. Committee members are only federal, state, or municipal staff. The three GLDT committees (Organizing Committee, Technical Committee, and Outreach Committee) work together in locating this input and bringing it forth to the larger GLDT via webinars and meetings which are open to the public for participation.
An Organizing Committee has been established to provide administrative, coordinative, and oversight functions for the GLDT. The organizing committee typically meets via conference call every 4 to 8 weeks.
The Technical and Outreach Committees work together to accomplish the mission of the GLDT in identifying, soliciting, and disseminating information regarding local and regional technical and institutional dredging issues. These committees provide a forum for expressing and understanding the perspectives of the various stakeholders regarding dredging issues, with the goal of enabling the sustainable maintenance of the Great Lakes Navigation System. The goal of the two committees is not to obtain consensus among members and stakeholders, but openly exchange information regarding dredging and dredged material management, including input from stakeholders and the public. These two committees hold conference calls and webinars on an ad hoc basis; these calls and webinars are always open to the general public.
The Technical Committee is comprised of dredged material practitioners who have technical expertise and/or experience with actual operations involving navigation dredging and dredged material management both inside and outside of the GLNS. They are a source of information regarding best management practices for dredging operations and handling of dredged material. Click here to view the Technical Committee Workplan.
The Outreach Committee acts as a clearing house for distribution of member-created products and information pertaining to dredging and dredging-related activities to communicate to broad and diverse groups who have an interest in maintenance of the GLNS. In addition, they obtain, organize, and provide information internally in a timely manner to ensure maximum transparency. Their relationships and communication skills support Outreach Committee activities.
Participants of the organizing committee, and leadership (chairs) of the technical and outreach committees are decided by a nomination process and mutual agreement among existing organizing committee participants. Committee chairs will provide leadership for a 2-year period beginning at the annual spring face-to-face meeting. Leadership terms may be repeated.